Friday, April 03, 2009

UPDATE: Many thanks to reader sixstring who fixed the audio for me so that y'all can hear this stupidity straight from the horses ummmmm mouth.

At least I guess that is the point Senator Larry Dixon and the hosts of Morris/Montiel were trying to make this morning on WACV 107.9 FM in Montgomery.

I got an email from a friend of mine who called in and asked Senator Dixon how come he never responded to repeated requests for his position on HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act. Senator Dixon's response was that he would never support it and that the sponsor of the bill was none other than Lesbian Patricia Todd.

Y'all reckon that pissed me off?

So, I called in and asked the following questions of Senator Dixon.

The first question was "Since you don't support medical marijuana does that mean that you support locking up cancer patients in prison?"

The second question was, "Why did you find it necessary to bring up Rep. Todd's sexuality in reference to this bill as it has absolutely nothing to do with medical marijuana?"

(Note: This was written before I got the audio straightened out and varies a little from what is below...but not in any way that changes the context)

He answered the second question first and said, "Well, she is a lesbian, and she ran her campaign on being a lesbian and she advertises it at the State House you know she does she advertises it at the state house...that she is a lesbian. She is a lesbian and she advertises it and I was just letting people know who she is. I'm older now and more accepting of people that ain't like me you know and I like Rep. Todd just fine...we get along just fine...but she is a lesbian."

One of the hosts pointed out that Rep. Todd is a 'liberal democrat' and that the medical marijuana bill is a liberal bill. I wonder if he thinks that cancer, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Alzheimer's, chronic pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and illness of that nature are liberal illnesses that only attack those bad liberal people who just beg to be attacked?

They of course never answered why they thought it was important to discuss Rep. Todd's sexuality in the context of the conversation about HB434. I guess maybe they were trying to imply that smoking medical marijuana for cancer might turn you into a lesbian. I suppose if Ms. Laura Hall had still been sponsoring the bill they would have implied that smoking medical marijuana would turn you black.

How can people be so deliberately ignorant and willfully stupid? Are the listeners of that show equally ignorant and willfully stupid? I hope not. I know at least two that do not fit that description and that would be the friend who emailed me about Senator Larry Dixon being on the show and a gentleman named Andrew who called in after me, identified himself as a conservative and said he supported medical marijuana and the right of people to be gay as long as no one was being hurt. I'd say Andrew is a TRUE CONSERVATIVE.

Back to the first question which was, "Since you don't support medical marijuana does that mean you support locking cancer patients in prison?"

Sen. Dixon, "No, No I don't support locking cancer patients in prison. There are no cancer patients in prison. I have just as much experience with cancer as you do (and how much would that be and how much experience do you reckon he thinks I have with cancer?) and there are oncologists studying this thing and"

At this point one of the hosts jumps in and says "Yeah and there's pain doctors"

Sen. Dixon, "Yes pain doctors and Marinol which is Tetra-Hydra-Cannabinol (boy he sure knows a lot about marijuana if he knows the scientific name for THC and how to say it for someone who does not support the bill) in pill form that can be prescribed. There's just no way to enforce such a law about who can smoke it and who can't."

Unfortunately they control the phones at the station and cut you off as soon as you ask your question so I didn't get a chance to respond. I did record it but messed up the file because I didn't have the audio turned up loud enough so it can barely be heard. If anyone out there knows how to boost the audio on a WMA file please let me know.

If I had gotten the chance to respond I would have pointed out the obvious, which is that Marinol isn't covered by most insurance companies and costs about $700 a month for 30 pills. Plus the fact that cancer patients often have trouble taking pills because they cannot keep anything down due to nausea and vomiting caused by the chemo/radiation. Not to mention that the government has no business interfering in the doctor/patient relationship and as 'conservatives' who oppose 'large government' in general (yuk yuk) and socialized medicine (on the grounds that it will put the government between you and your doctor) they sure aren't acting 'conservative' on this issue.

It's amazing how two radio hosts and one Senator think their uninformed opinions mean more than what a doctor says regarding medical marijuana. I'd wager that none of them have ever been to medical school. I'd also wager that if anyone in their family is ever stricken with a terrible ailment that medical marijuana can help they will go and find some.

This is also not a partisan issue. As I stated earlier disease and terminal illness and chronic pain don't discriminate between liberals, conservatives, libertarians, independents, black, white, straight or gay, so how can medical marijuana be a 'Liberal' issue?

For those of you who would like to tell the show what you think you can do so by signing up on their forum here. Also feel free to let Senator Dixon know what you think.

I wonder how exactly Rep. Todd 'advertises' her sexual orientation? Does she wear an "I'm a Lesbian" t-shirt on Wednesday's? Does she hit on the other female Reps.? I mean I know her pretty well and have been to the state house and talked to her many times and I've never seen her in a shirt like that and I have never seen her flirt with other women. In fact, if I didn't know Rep. Todd was gay the thought would never cross my mind.

And how often in the past has Senator Dixon made it a point to identify any other legislator by their sexual orientation? Has he ever said "This bill is sponsored by heterosexual rep. so and so?"

And, as a friend who shall remain nameless pointed out in an email to me yesterday...

"And Pat Todd "advertises" her sexuality? Uh, like The good Senator does when he parades around with his wife in tow and uses "family" pictures in campaign literature? OK, take a deep breath now!"

I only hope this pisses Rep. Todd off as much as it did me and others who have heard about it.

Homosexuality is a gateway to medical marijuana advocacy.Only ultra liberals would support such a thing. You know, like Ron Paul, Milton Friedman, and William F. Buckley. This station caters to the "conservative" audience. They air the Glenn Beck show. I suspect that is Dixon's demographic. He says it's none of his business what people do in their personal lives. How he reconciles that with his opposition to medical marijuana is beyond me.